Absol/RSE
Absol can only be found on Route 120. One of the rarest Pokémon without the help of duplicates clause factoring into the equation... and paradoxically also one of the easiest to get with its help. Absol is one of a kind: Dark-type, a mostly physical glass cannon, but with basically zero physical options other than Shadow Ball and the obligatory Normal coverage, both of which make it cry bitter tears for its awesome base 130 Attack. On the other hand, its special movepool is quite amazing, including even Calm Mind and the elemental beams in its ranks; sadly, it cannot be backed up by anything but a decent-but-not-too-high Special Attack in turn. So what to do with Absol? Its nature might actually change your play choices, and there are a few interesting options to note. With the right coverage, Absol is actually capable of taking on a good number of Pokémon in Hoenn. Important Matchups - Emerald = * Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): * Rival (Lilycove City): * Tabitha (Lilycove Hideout): * Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): * Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, tag battle with Steven): * Maxie (Jagged Pass Magma Hideout): * Archie (Seafloor Cavern): * Gym #8 - Juan (Sootopolis City, Water-type): * Wally (Victory Road): * Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): * Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): * Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): * Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): * Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type): * Post-Game: Ice Beam should warrant a bye-bye to Rayquaza, though Absol will be in great danger if it somehow survives. As for Steven, refer to the matchups in the Ruby and Sapphire Champion section. }} Moves Absol starts off with Quick Attack, Razor Wind, Bite, and either Swords Dance if caught at level 26 or higher, or Taunt if not. Its Attack is amazing, but its defenses are not, so using Razor Wind is not advised; rely on Bite instead, or if you want a physical move, Strength (or Return if you have it). Absol learns Double Team at level 31, too, but using it is like gambling with something almost frail as crystal, and it should be avoided. At level 36, it gets Slash; it's not really great, since it doesn't even have Super Luck in this generation, and Strength is usually better either way. Future Sight comes at 41, and once again, there are much better alternatives; lastly, Perish Song comes at 46, which can be strategic, but only if you use it the first turn and then switch out to something more tanky, as Absol is unlikely to take hits for that long. On the upside, TMs offer a lot more to Absol than anything else. Unfortunately, on the physical side - which is its best offensive side - there isn't much for Absol to learn, while on the special side it does much better. Its most viable options are... Return and Shadow Ball. That's it. There's also Aerial Ace, technically, though it will likely be useful only in evasion games; still, it has decent base power for that purpose. Emerald offers Rock Slide as well, but it's sadly a postgame exclusive. On the special side, Absol gets the three ever-popular elemental beams: Thunderbolt, Flamethrower and Ice Beam, as well as their more powerful alternatives, which are not recommended for accuracy reasons; Fire Blast can work in place of Flamethrower, but accuracy is generally better than power. Of all three, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt are the most likely to prove useful in the long run. Bite is, sadly, the best Dark move it gets, as Absol has no access to Crunch. Water Pulse is another option for the lovers of confusion games, but unreliable at best, as far as status infliction goes; for special sets, however, Calm Mind is a valuable option to boost Absol's otherwise decent-but-not-great Special Attack. Recommended movesets: ''Physical, setup: Swords Dance, Return, Shadow Ball, Aerial Ace'' ''Special, setup: Calm Mind, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt'' ''Mixed: Return, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, Aerial Ace / Thunderbolt'' Other Absol's stats * What Nature do I want? It depends on what set you want to run. For physical sets, Adamant. For special sets, Modest. For mixed sets, anything that boosts one offensive stat and lowers one defensive stat: Lonely, Mild, Naughty and Rash. Any Speed-lowering nature is bad, as Absol is not very fast and will likely not accomplish much if it doesn't outspeed. * How good is Absol in a Nuzlocke? Actually pretty good, despite its unfortunate movepool, mostly geared towards the special side when its Attack is the best stat it has by far. However, even with a mildly usable Special Attack, Absol can accomplish a lot with the right moves, and on top of that, it's very fun to use. * Weaknesses: Bug, Fighting * Resistances: Dark, Ghost * Immunities: Psychic * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon Category:Dark-Type Category:Hoenn Category:Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald